Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Halloween doesn't have to be about costumed ghouls and overloading on high-fructose corn syrup. For the artistically curious, Helen Day Art Center in Stowe is offering, on Halloween night, a visual smorgasbord of short films, accompanied by an original score by DJ Ikail del Toro.

The second annual Magic Lantern Show Art Film Festival evokes the bygone tradition of magic lantern shows, which were an important precursor to cinema. The original magic lantern shows, which date back several hundred years, were often put on by itinerant impresarios, who would project light through fanciful, painted glass plates while providing an early form of voice-over narration.

Helen Day's show, which runs from 5 to 10 p.m. on October 31, showcases 14 short films (12 juried, two invited) from national and international film and video artists. The films will run on a continuous, 47-minute loop and will be accompanied by a score composed for the occasion. All films will be projected onto the gazebo at the Stowe Free Library at 90 Pond Street.

So, if you're tired of those pesky trick-or-treaters ringing your bell — or if you've already devoured all the fun-size Snickers bars that you bought "for the kids" — consider heading to Stowe for some Halloween treats for your eyes and ears, not your belly.

More by Ethan de Seife

When entering the Archives, downtown Burlington's classic-game arcade, one of the first consoles you see is Tapper. The 1983 game, in which a bartender must keep up with his patrons' increasingly frenzied demands for beer, is an apt metaphor for the Archives' two raisons d'être: vintage video games and sudsy brews.